Jericho Sims will play no part in the New York Knicks' playoff run after having surgery on his right shoulder.

The Knicks confirmed Sims had undergone a procedure "to repair a torn labrum and cuff tendon in his right shoulder" on Wednesday, with an expected return date in time for the start of training camp ahead of next season.

The center – who was the 53rd overall pick of the 2021 NBA draft – has not featured since the Knicks' road loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on April 7 due to the injury.

A statement from the Knicks on Thursday read: "Jericho Sims underwent successful surgery yesterday to repair a torn labrum and cuff tendon in his right shoulder at the Hospital for Special Surgery. He's expected to be ready for the start of training camp in the fall."

New York secured a 4-1 first-round series win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, and will face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semi-finals, with Game 1 taking place on Sunday.

Athletes could be given the right to refuse to wear gambling logos on their kit on religious or health grounds if a Government proposal is adopted into a new code of conduct.

The Government published its wide-ranging white paper on reform in the gambling sector on Thursday.

Some campaigners have called for the Government to introduce an outright ban on gambling sponsorship in sport, but the sports industry will be left to draw up its own “robust” code for socially responsible gambling sponsorship.

Work on the cross-sport code is already under way, but the white paper set out a series of ‘example principles’ the code could cover, including: “Kits without sponsor logos to be ensured for…adults who have religious or health reasons to object to wearing gambling sponsors.”

Former Newcastle forward Papiss Cisse initially refused to wear the club’s shirt in 2013 when it bore the logo of a payday lending firm, Wonga, because he said it offended his Muslim faith.

The player was initially left behind for the team’s pre-season training camp, and the matter was only resolved after complex negotiations which involved the Professional Footballers’ Association, with Cisse agreeing to wear the kit.

Gambling is forbidden in the Muslim faith.

The principle ultimately may not form part of the code if it is considered unworkable by the sports industry, but the white paper insists any code must spark “meaningful improvements” in making gambling sponsorship more socially responsible.

Other principles suggested were a commitment to reinvestment of funds from gambling sponsorship into development and grassroots activities and ensuring gambling advertising is not visible in or from dedicated family areas.

Earlier this month the Premier League announced its clubs had collectively agreed to voluntarily withdraw front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship from 2025-26 onwards, something which was welcomed in the white paper.

The white paper said that in spite of a ‘whistle to whistle’ ban on gambling adverts on television, “we recognise that sports sponsorship remains an environment where children may be exposed to gambling brands”.

“Overall, indirect exposure to gambling marketing around sport is high, including among children, and can be particularly challenging for those already suffering gambling-related harms,” the paper said.

The paper said a robust code would have the effect of ensuring that “where (gambling sponsorship) does appear, the public can have confidence in the social responsibility of the arrangement, and in turn its potential impact on children and vulnerable people.

“We are challenging the sports and esports sectors and the industry to set a high standard for social responsibility, with the potential not only to improve standards in gambling sponsorship but also to provide a model for responsible sponsorship by other sectors.”

The paper said the code would not apply to National Lottery branding in Lottery-funded sports to recognise “the major role” it plays.

The paper estimated the sports sector earns £190million a year from gambling sponsorship based on evidence submitted by industry bodies, with £45million of that going to the EFL and clubs across its three divisions, including the money it receives from its title sponsor Sky Bet.

That agreement between the EFL and Sky Bet drew specific praise in the paper, which said the social responsibility agreements in the contract offered other sports governing bodies “scope to learn from”.

An EFL spokesperson said: “Having submitted evidence to the Gambling Act Review, the EFL welcomes the long-awaited publication of the white paper which offers an updated vision for gambling regulation in this country.

“It is the league’s long-held view that it is for Government to determine what is the appropriate regulatory framework for the UK’s gambling sector, and while sports partnerships are just one small part of this white paper’s scope, its publication will help organisations determine how they can continue to work with responsible gambling operators moving forward.”

Chinese youngster Si Jiahui snatched a 5-3 lead in an intriguing first session of his World Championship semi-final showdown with Luca Brecel.

The 20-year-old, who came through qualifying at the Crucible to make the latter stages, lost the first frame, but produced back-to-back clearances of 125, 102 and 97 to punish Brecel for errors with a near-faultless display of break building.

However the Belgian, who beat seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last eight, scrapped his way back to 4-3 down before succumbing in a nail-biting conclusion to the afternoon’s final frame.

In a scrappy start to the opening frame, Brecel enjoyed the benefit of an outrageous fluke when he rattled the pink in the jaws and saw the ball run the length of the table down the cushion before dropping in.

He went on to make 50 before missing the blue off its spot, although Si, the youngest semi-finalist at the tournament since O’Sullivan in 1996, was unable to prevent him from going ahead.

However, the youngster announced himself in style in the second, sinking a tough red to get in before compiling an imperious 125 break, and he repeated the feat to take a 2-1 lead when, after the Belgian had missed the yellow at 33-0, he cleared the table once again in a visit of 102 to complete back-to-back centuries.

Si eased himself 3-1 in front at the mid-session interval after an arm-wrestle in the fourth frame with both players twice having missed difficult reds to the middle pockets before he prevailed 103-29 courtesy of a break of 97.

The world number 80 stuttered briefly, missing a regulation red as he applied right-hand side to the cue ball in an effort to develop the pack after Brecel had erred once again, but eventually tied up an untidy fifth frame 103-3.

Si’s first error of note arrived in the next when, 53 points into another seemingly decisive break, he jawed the black to allow his opponent to the table, and his break of 72 stopped the rot.

Having benefited from a mistake, Brecel handed it back almost immediately, following up a good long red with a careless blue, but the Chinese player was equally profligate, leaving himself unable to see a colour as he attempted to develop the pack and taking seven attempts to hit the nominated brown.

A second snooker and three more misses yielded 12 more points to leave the 28-year-old 38-33 ahead, and he eventually drew back to within one frame of his opponent with a visit of 69.

The final frame of the session unfolded with a sustained safety exchange, but it was Brecel who made the first move with a break of 33 before inexplicably missing the pink, although Si faltered at 43-34.

His opponent rattled a pink to the top pocket which would have levelled the match at 4-4 and saw it roll agonisingly over the middle for the younger man to go two up.

Charles Leclerc has brushed off reports suggesting he will replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, reaffirming his commitment to Ferrari.

The Monegasque driver is in his fifth season with the Italian constructor and is looking for a first podium of the 2023 season after a muted start.

But amid lingering speculation over the future of seven-time world champion Hamilton at Mercedes, Leclerc has been linked with replacing the Briton.

Ahead of this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, however, Leclerc denied reports he is set to swap teams, though he did not explicitly rule out a future move.

"No, not yet," he said. "Not for the moment. For now, I am fully focused on the project I am in today, which is Ferrari and I fully trust and am confident for the future.

"Then we will see, but I am fully confident for the project of Ferrari. I'm fully committed to Ferrari and I love Ferrari.

"It has always been a dream for me to be in this team and my main priority is to win a world championship with this team. So it's not something in my mind."

Hamilton, who picked up a first podium of the year at the Australian Grand Prix, sees his contract expire with Mercedes at the end of the current season.

Speculation over Leclerc succeeding him has had no impact on his own negotiations though, with Hamilton stressing his own commitment to the Silver Arrows.

"I think maybe some of the drivers all have different relationships with different bosses and stuff," Hamilton said. "I like where I am.

"I love my team, and I'm grateful for the journey we've been on and what we're working on moving forwards."

Charles Leclerc has left the door ajar to replacing Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

Hamilton’s Formula One future remains in the spotlight with no apparent development on an extension to his contract which expires at the end of the year.

Both Hamilton, 38, and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff say a deal will be struck, but a report in Italy this week claimed it was an open secret that Ferrari’s Leclerc was already in dialogue with the Silver Arrows about a future move.

Leclerc’s bid to win his maiden world championship this year has been derailed by two mechanical retirements from the opening three rounds.

And although the Monegasque, who is under contract with Ferrari until the end of next year, insisted ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix that he has not spoken to Wolff about a transfer to the Silver Arrows, he admitted that could change in the future.

“No, there have not been any conversations,” said Leclerc, 25, before adding: “Not yet, not for the moment.

“For now, I am fully focused on the project I am in today – and that is Ferrari. For the future we will see, but I am fully confident in the Ferrari project.

“It has always been my dream to be in this team and my main priority is to win a world championship here so it (a move to Mercedes) is not in my mind.”

Asked whether he had directly spoken to Wolff, Leclerc replied: “No. Zero. Really zero. You all smile because you don’t believe me, but I promise.”

Hamilton finished second last time out in Australia, but he is already 31 points behind Max Verstappen.

It was put to him in Baku whether the speculation surrounding Leclerc’s future had any impact on his own.

“No, not really,” said the seven-time world champion. “Maybe some of the drivers have relationships with different bosses.

“I like where I am. I love my team. I am grateful for the journey we have been on and what we are working on moving forwards, so it doesn’t have any impact, no.”

The season fires up again on the streets of Baku following an enforced break after the round in China was scrubbed from the calendar.

F1 bosses have introduced a change to the format here, with the introduction of two qualifying sessions – one to decide the order for Sunday’s grand prix and the other determining the starting grid for Saturday’s sprint race, the first of six sprint events this season.

Qualifying for Sunday’s main event takes place here on Friday evening.

World champion Verstappen recently said that he could quit F1 if the sport’s chiefs pressed ahead with plans to extend the number of sprint races.

“One thing you do question is whether it is worth it,” said Verstappen on Thursday.

“I do like racing. I do like winning. I know that with the salary and everything, you have a good life. But is it actually a good life? I do feel that if it’s getting at one point too much, then it’s time for a change.”

Max Verstappen believes the approach of the leading drivers in Formula One will not change with the new sprint format, which debuts this weekend in Azerbaijan.

The new approach will see qualifying for Sunday's race take place on Friday, with Saturday seeing qualifying for the sprint followed by the short-form race itself.

Previously, qualifying would set the order for the sprint, which in turn would decide the line-up for the grid in Sunday's main race.

The idea is to encourage drivers to take more risks in the sprint, though Verstappen is not sure that will be the outcome.

"Maybe some people who are outside the points try to get a point. But once you are upfront, it's not making a massive difference," he told Sky Sports.

"I don't see it being a lot different for us than in the previous sprint weekends. There will be a little bit more chaos around because of the extra qualifying. This track is always quite chaotic, so this will make it a little bit more chaotic.

"From my side, I don't think it will change a lot. If you're first, second, third, you're quite happy in that position to just get the points, get it over with and focus on the race."

Verstappen has regularly been a vocal critic against changing the format of Formula One but admits he will have to cope with the new changes.

"You have to be ok with it. I love racing in general but I do feel like you don't have to touch anything that is great and I always thought that Sunday was great," he added.

"Of course, I understand selling more tickets on the Friday and Saturday, make every day worth fighting for, but when you're doing 24 or 25 race weekends, I think a good option would be to shorten it a bit anyway.

"Some people love racing, they will do it forever, but it also needs to be a healthy option as well. At one point, you start questioning that. Then when you add in these sprint weekends, it's even more busy."

While Verstappen made his concerns clear, McLaren's Lando Norris welcomed the new changes and believes the format is much better than before.

"There's still the budget cap, you don't want to damage the car, you don't want to do anything silly. Especially us, where we're wanting to improve the car as much as possible, the least amount of damage we cause, the better," he said.

"But I'm excited. I think it's a better format, I prefer it compared to what we had before. There's more room and more opportunities for everyone.

"I like the fact you have two qualifying. I love the format of practice, then qualifying on the Friday. The pressure is definitely higher, but it's enjoyable."

Phil Mickelson expects the four majors to find a way to include the cream of LIV Golf talent even if ranking system chiefs refuse to award points to the breakaway series.

LIV bosses are pushing for the official world golf rankings (OWGR) to award points for its events, but that has yet to come about.

There is no guarantee the situation will change, but Mickelson cannot see how it is in anyone's interest for the majors, golf's pinnacle events, to exclude some of the sport's biggest stars.

His LIV Golf colleague Bryson DeChambeau labelled the rankings "almost obsolete" when he spoke this week in Singapore. He has slipped from inside the top 30 to 178th since committing to LIV, where lucrative sign-up fees and prize money have drawn a host of golf's elite players.

Mickelson and Brooks Koepka, who both defected from the PGA Tour to LIV, finished tied for second at the recent Masters.

Sharp dips in ranking status could mean LIV stars are frozen out from the majors, but there seems likely to be an arrangement reached.

Reflecting on the sport's showpiece occasions and future prospects for LIV players, Mickelson said: "It's going to all iron itself out because if you're one of the majors, if you're the Masters, you're not looking at we should keep these guys out.

"You're saying to yourself, we want to have the best field, we want to have the best players, and these guys added a lot to the tournament this year at the Masters. How do we get them included?

"We have to come up with a qualifying mechanism that is inclusive, and if the world golf ranking isn't going to be inclusive, then they have to find another way.

"Maybe they take the top five or top 10 or winners of LIV, but they're going to have to find a way to get the best LIV players in their field if they want to have the best field in golf and be really what major championship is about. So they're already looking at that.

"If the world golf rankings doesn't find a way to be inclusive, then the majors will just find another way to include LIV because it's no longer a credible way.

"So it will all iron itself out for the simple reason that it's in the best interest of everybody, especially the tournaments, the majors, to have the best players."

The US PGA Championship is coming up in May, followed by the U.S. Open in June and the Open Championship in July.

Meanwhile, the Singapore leg of the controversial, Saudi-backed LIV series begins on Friday.

DeChambeau, a former winner of the U.S. Open, has little time for the ranking system as it stands.

"You should realise that the OWGR is not accurate, one," he said. "Two, I think that they need to come to a resolution, or it will become obsolete. It's pretty much almost obsolete as of right now.

"But again, if the majors and everything continue to have that as their ranking system, then they are biting it quite heavily."

Aaron Ramsdale claims Arsenal will not give up on their title dream despite Wednesday’s shattering loss at Manchester City.

The Premier League leaders crashed to a 4-1 loss at the Etihad Stadium to lose control of a title race they have dominated for most of the season.

City’s emphatic victory took the champions within two points of the Gunners at the top and, with two games in hand, Pep Guardiola’s treble-chasing side now look firm favourites.

April has been a frustrating month for Arsenal, with three successive draws preceding the trip to Manchester, but Ramsdale is not ready to throw in the towel.

The England goalkeeper said: “We’re going to be disappointed now but we haven’t played nine months of Premier League football, and played the way we wanted to play, to give up with five games to go.

“If anything is going to happen in football, it is this league it is going to happen in. It might not do – but stranger things have happened in the Premier League.

“You see how tight it is at the bottom, you see how tight it is at the top, so we are going to be pushing every game – with five games left we need to win five games – and we will see how that ends at the end of the season.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’ll get over it and the manager will do what the manager does and dissect it and tell us and we will do everything we can.”

? "We’re definitely disappointed that we can’t send them home with a smile on their faces, but if there’s one thing about this set of fans which I’ve seen over the last 18 months, they don’t give up."

We heard you all night, Gooners ❤️

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 26, 2023

The game failed to live up to its billing as a heavyweight contest as City completely overran their visitors.

Kevin De Bruyne struck twice either side of a John Stones header as City effectively wrapped up victory inside 54 minutes.

It might have been even worse but for the fact Erling Haaland spurned a host of chances – most of them saved by a defiant Ramsdale – but the prolific Norwegian wrapped up the scoring late on after Rob Holding grabbed a consolation.

“Disappointment is the key word,” said Ramsdale. “When you give arguably one of the best teams in the world at the minute a bit of a leg-up in the game and are 2-0 down at half-time, it is a tough task to overcome.

“We know we are better than that but also this is where we want to be and the team we want to be like and be competing with.”

For Ramsdale there was some personal satisfaction in thwarting Haaland for most of the game, making four fine saves from the striker, but he was frustrated to concede to him in injury time.

The 24-year-old said: “I’m devastated I got to 94 minutes and 50 seconds – it was probably the goal I am most annoyed about, which I should save.

“But it was a good battle and hopefully I can have these battles with other players as well.”

Nicola Wilson’s medal-laden eventing career ended and her life changed forever following a catastrophic cross-country fall at the prestigious Badminton Horse Trials last year.

But the 46-year-old Olympian’s inspirational determination to seize what she describes as her “second chance” knows no limits.

She readily accepts that life will never be the same again, but her ongoing recovery from a neck injury that severely affected her spinal cord and all four limbs – she spent more than three weeks in intensive care and five months in hospitals 260 miles apart – has proved heroically defiant.

Nicola Wilson, who had a fall at Badminton today, is stable but has been transferred to Southmead Hospital for trauma scans and further investigation. JL Dublin has returned to his stable, and is comfortable.

We're thinking of Nicola and her connections, and wish them well. pic.twitter.com/1vuzfB6OPT

— British Equestrian (@BritEquestrian) May 7, 2022

“I am living with it every day,” Wilson told the PA news agency, in an exclusive interview.

“What I can and can’t do has changed enormously, which is a constant reminder from the moment I wake up each day to the moment I go to sleep. That will not leave me, I don’t think.

“But equally, it is what it is. I can’t undo it, so we have just got to make the most of what we have.”

As a rider, North Yorkshire-based Wilson was among the world’s best, helping Great Britain to team silver at London 2012 alongside Zara Tindall, Tina Cook, Mary King and William Fox-Pitt.

GOLD medal Wilson! ?

Wonderful Nicola Wilson's dreams came true. With a textbook round on the divine JL Dublin, @BritEquestrian's star of the show had us in awe in Avenches! ? pic.twitter.com/RKDR5txqaz

— The FEI (@FEI_Global) September 26, 2021

She was also crowned European individual champion in 2021, while seven other major championship medals included world team gold and three European team titles.

Her partnership with Badminton ride JL Dublin had made such an impact in recent seasons that many astute judges had them firmly in the selection mix for next year’s Paris Olympics.

“Dubs”, as he is affectionately known, is now in the equally expert hands of double Olympic medallist Tom McEwen, and while Wilson’s Paris hopes have been cruelly snatched away, her strong connection with the sport she adores remains.

She runs popular coaching clinics and eventing master-classes, while media work will mean an emotional return to Badminton next week for the 2023 event.

Wilson’s fighting spirit, family support unit led by husband Alastair and network of friends and colleagues inside and outside the sport, including the British Eventing Support Trust, would top any medal podium going.

“I was on the ground and thought I was winded because I couldn’t breathe,” she added. “There was somebody kneeling near to me, and I was trying to say I couldn’t breathe, but of course no words came out, and then it was lights out for me.

“The reason I couldn’t breathe was not because I was winded but because I was paralysed. Nothing was working, my diaphragm, nothing. I was surviving on the air I had in my body – then I disappeared.

“There was an army consultant anaesthetist, who I think was the first to me. He saw how I landed, knew it wasn’t good and held my neck and head. The Badminton medical team were amazing. If the fall had happened somewhere else, there is no way I would be here now.

“From then on, I knew it was serious, I knew there and then I would be retiring, but I just hoped and prayed that I would recover enough to have a quality of life.

“I don’t feel bitter. We do a dangerous sport and something like this could always happen. Life is for living, and I feel incredibly fortunate that I have been given a second chance.

“Yes, life is incredibly different to what it was before, but there are also qualities that have come out of that.”

More than three weeks at Southmead Hospital in Bristol were followed by four months in the spinal unit of James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough.

But through it all, Wilson’s fierce drive never waned. Feeling sorry for herself has not once entered the thought process.

“I was back in the land of the living and stable with my breathing when I left Badminton, and then the paralysis bit was the next issue we needed to deal with,” she said.

“Bit by bit I could start to wiggle my toes, I got a little bit of movement into my legs, so I could bend and move them. They obviously had no strength, stability or co-ordination in them, but I could feel them.

“You have to be resilient. I felt if this was my next hurdle in life, it was something I needed to overcome. I am inclined to be more of a positive person than a negative one – where there is a will, there is a way.

Eventer Nicola Wilson has been named leading rider for 2017 by the British Equestrian Writers' Association.

Wilson helped Great Britain win team gold at the European Championships in Poland and climbed to world number two behind Germany's Michael Jung. pic.twitter.com/JOAAGO2GUX

— PA Sport (@pasport) December 14, 2017

“The will was there, and the way were the hospitals, their support, their care. I have a fighting inner me that wants to drive on and stay positive.

“When I came out of hospital, I came out with a wheelchair and was on crutches. My injury was an incomplete injury to the spinal cord, so I was going to be able to carry on improving. A complete injury means exactly that.

“I was adamant that the wheelchair went back. If I couldn’t walk to wherever I wanted to be, then I couldn’t go there until I was strong enough to do it. It was my challenge, my competition to compete against myself to try and make sure I carried on improving and getting stronger.

“I think about what I can do, not what I can’t do. Yes, it is frustrating, because by the time I have got myself out of bed, brushed my teeth, got myself dressed and downstairs, I feel like I have done a marathon.

“I can do a lot of things – it just takes me a very long time. I can now put a coat on, just, but it takes a long time and I am aware it takes a long time. People are so kind in helping me. I just need to keep doing it and keep practising it.

“My body feels very strange, but it is fighting for me and digging deep. The improvement will be up to two years. I am halfway through my improvement span, so we will see how I am this time next year.”